The grinding world of politics from the Los Angeles Daily News

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Add Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, to the potential candidates looking at the 2016 U,S.. Senate race with the announced retirement of Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Schiff said he is actively considering a run for the seat and will be talking with his family. friends and supporters on whether to run for the post.

“Last week, I was named to the top Democratic position on the intelligence committee, and I am deeply grateful for the confidence that my House colleagues have placed in me,” Schiff said.

“The demands and responsibilities of this new position are considerable, and I hope to reach a decision in the near future after consulting with my family, friends and constituents.”

But, he said, the opportunity for a run for the Senate comes along rarely and he would welcome the chance to serve the entire state.

Attorney General Kamala Harris has announced she intends to run for the seat as is former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Biillionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer has said he has dropped plans to run for the seat.

Los Angeles officials on Tuesday released documents on the selection of UC Berkeley to perform a study of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $13.25 by 2017.

Posted on the city’s web site, the documents include bids and score sheets related to the four applicants who applied to do the study: UC Berkeley, Beacon Economics, Applied Development, and Economic Roundtable.

UC Berkeley earned the highest marks by the committee tasked with rating the groups, but also requested a far stiffer study fee than Beacon, which also had a high score.

The UC Berkeley selection has come under fire by some City Council members. The research institute also conducted a report last year for Garcetti, a study that was largely favorable about the mayor’s proposal.

Tuesday’s documents also reveal that UC Berkeley did the earlier study for Garcetti for free. “The work was carried out pro bono,” UC Berkeley’s submission states.

Both UC Berkeley and Beacon Economics scored the highest by the committee tasked with rating the applicants.

UC Berkeley scored an 88.8, while Beacon scored a 86. Applied Development and Economic Roundtable scored 80.3 and 71.8, respectively.

UC Berkeley’s bid listed a fee of $84,375, while Beacon’s fee was $42,925.

Of UC Berkeley, one committee member wrote: “Extensive research in living and minimum wage proposals.”

“Outstanding experience, proposed subject-matter experts,” another wrote. Still, one committee member expressed concern about the study fee, writing that it “seems somewhat high if they are just redeploying existing analysis.”

Beacon’s fee is: “Reasonably priced, but did not include time for presentations and meetings in the costs,” wrote one committee member. “Assuming they add for that, price would still be lower than all other proposals. Hourly rates are reasonable.”

“Not much on wage studies, generally,” wrote one committee member of Beacon. Another member was more positive: “Very familiar with economic trends in City due to their ongoing reporting on comparative economic forecasting for Los Angeles.”

The selection committee was represented by employees from four city departments — the Chief Legislative Analyst’s Office, City Administrative Office, Economic Workforce Development Department and Harbor Department.